A hero steps down.

 198th day sober. 

A hero has hung up her sword and shield ... https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/californias-speier-becomes-latest-house-democrat-to-retire/2021/11/16/86c136ac-46f5-11ec-beca-3cc7103bd814_story.html

She did her bit in the war against Christian extremism, taking rounds for it too. When will we wise up and award military medals for politicians who serve nobly in the war against the Christ-tards? 

And speaking of places overrun with Christ-tards, this thread popped up on r/hawaii:  https://www.reddit.com/r/Hawaii/comments/qurn5f/would_naming_my_son_koa_be_inappropriate_if_im/

The ... fetishizing is the only word I can think of, of Hawaii is really starting to disgust me. Why not fetishize any of a large number of Pacific islands, any of which have far cheaper living expenses, healthier waters, lower crime, etc.?  I don't even think there'd be much paperwork to move to American Samoa and as long as you can live according to "Fa'a Samoa" which means just don't be a wild crazy fool, you'll be more welcomed among the Samoans who are basically not jerks, than you'd ever be among "Hawaiians" of which there are very very few genuine examples and these days means anyone brown-skinned who just stepped off the plane in Honolulu and has a chip on their shoulder. 

When I was a kid we (as a state) produced our own eggs, our own milk, much of our own produce (it was "patriotic" to eat locally-grown cherry tomatoes instead of the big kind grown on the mainland) and there was at least an effort to carry our own weight, food-wise. Now everything's shipped in from the mainland even eggs and milk which really surprises me. Everything's gonna just be tourism, tourism, tourism. 

And with tourism comes gatekeeping. Because how's a tourist gonna feel they got their money's worth unless they've visited a "special" place where there are sacred woo-woo people living (and said tourists can't tell the difference between an actual Pacific Islander and your average Japanese/Chinese/Portuguese person serving them at Germaine's Luau). 

Hell Kahuku corn isn't even a thing any more. Grow a stand of sweet corn on the fertile, rain-kissed land of Kahuku and set up a stand by the side of the road, sell 'um. But that's no more. Now there are shrimp trucks, selling shrimp raised on farms in Thailand. There used to be aquaculture out that way but that's no more.

I was up a bit before 11:am which is good, did some exercises, not too much but a little, with the aim of strengthening my midsection. I'm thinking now, there's probably no coincidence that Miles Davis and Clark Terry trained in boxing. And singer Anita O'Day used to train with a medicine ball to help her sing better.